Mine loading machine



..J. P. MOSIER AND E. RJCAMPBELL.

MINE LOADING MACHINE. APPLICATION manna/W15. 192a.

Patente i May 16, 1922.

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I I I n l. P. MOSI ER AND E. R. CAMPBELL.

MINE L OADING MACHINE. APPLICATION FlLED MAR: 15, 1920.

1&1 ,5, Patented "Ma 16, 1922.

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PATENT OFFICE.-

JAMES P. MOSIER, OF ST. FRANCOIS, AND ERNIST R. CAMPBELL, 0F. DESLOGE, MIS- SOURI, ASSIGNORS TO NATIONAL LEAD COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A COR- PO'RATION OF NEW JERSEY.

MINE LOADING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 16, 1922.

Application filed March 15, 1920. Serial No. 366,168.

invented a new and useful Improvement in Mine Loading Machines, of which the following is a specification.

Our IIIVGIlfllOIl relates to machines for loading ore,-coal and like material and has for its principal objects to devise a load ing machine sufficiently light, small and compact to, be readily moved about an ordi nary mine without requiring the drifts and entries to be enlarged therefor; another principaLobject is to utilize the operation of filling and lifting the shovel of the machine for the purpose of facilitating movement thereof to the point of discharge;'another principal object is to enable the attendant to quickly and easily swing the boom toand fro and thereby dispense with some of the machinery and rigging commonly used with loading machines; other principal objects are-to expedite the opera- -tions of loading and unloading, to economize man-power, to provide for automatic dlschargc, to provide for the use of the machine in close quarters, to minimize the danger of derailment; and to secure advantages hereinafter appearing.

The invention consists principally in mounting the mast'in such manner that the loading of the machine automatically tilts the mast towards the delivery side of the machine; it also consists in interposing springs between the axles and the'body of the truck that supports the operating mech anism in combination with means for rendering certain of said springs temporarily inoperative; it also consists in improvements in the boom, in the shov l, in the mechanism for dumping the bottom of the shovel and in other parts andcombinations" and arrangements of parts hereinafter appearmg. g p

In the accompanying drawing, wherein like symbols represent'like parts wherever they occur, Fig. 1 is a plan view of a loading machine embodying our invention;

,the boom. on the line 5-5 in ig. 2, the

shovel being shown in rear elevation;

1 1g. 6 1s a vertlcal longitudinal section through the boom, shovel and roller supporting frame therefor, the section being taken on the line 6- 6 in Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a vertical cross-section through the boom on the line 7-7 in Fig. 2 looking toward the rear of themachine, the body of the machine being shown tilted under the weight of a loaded shovel and the mast mounted thereon being likewise tilted away from the side of the machine supported by the jack to swing the boom towards the down side of the machine.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of one of the end digger teeth of the shovel; and

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of one of the intermediate digger teeth of the shovel.

Our machine comprises a body portion 1 which is preferably rigid and which j is supported on axles 2 to which are fixed flanged car wheels 3. Between the body and the axles are interposed heavy springs 4,

which are housed and positioned in any suitable way, as for instance, as with the ordinary locomotive truck.

Mounted on the front end of the springsupported body 1 is a stiff leg or upright frame which is rigidly held in position by braces 6 secured to the body 1 This stiff leg is provided near its top and bottom respectively with hinge members 7 which cooperate with hinge members 8 provided therefor on a mast 9 which is thereby mounted pivotally on said stifi' leg -to swing horizontally. Near its foot, this mast has secured thereto a pair of brackets 10 which extend forwardly and are "provided .with alined openings which are adapted to receive a horizontally extending pivot pin 11 which extends through the rear end member 12 of a heavy boom 13, whereby said boom is pivotally mounted to be raised and lowered. p

The boom preferably consists of two 1-. beams 14 in normal, position with their flanges substantially in contact and with the space between their webs filed with a wooden timber 15, as illustrated in Fig. 3. By this arrangement" the metal is utilized to a maxi mum for resisting vertical stresses, while the wooden block contributes greatly to the resiliency of the boom and to its power of resisting stresses tending to buckle it. At the same time, this construction enables the full width of both I-beams to be fully utilized for a track for cooperation with the antifriction rollers hereinafter mentioned; and thewear on the boom is thus distributed over a' wide area. As illustrated in the drawing, the I-beams have relatively wide flanges thereby affording room for a thick beam between them and a wide trackway at top and bottom.

The front end of the boom comprises a nose piece 16 which serves to hold the I- beams 14 together and itself has secured thereto a hoisting rope 17 which passes over a sheave 18 provided therefore at the top of the mast 9 and thence passes around a second sheave 19 disposed on the stiff legor mast supporting frame 5 near said first mentioned sheave and thence is connected to a hoisting drum '23 provided therefor on the body of the machine. In order to increase the pulling power on this rope, it is preferable to interpose two or more sheaves or pulleys between the end of the one boom and the first she-ave or pulley above mentioned; that is to say, it is preferable that the hoisting rope should first run from the one end of the boom to a sheave 21 at the top of the mast and thence back to a. sheave 22 near the front end of the boom and thence back over thefirst mentioned sheave at the top of the mast and thence on to the hoisting drum 23.

The hoisting mechanism may be of any suitable type. The hoisting mechanism shown in the drawing comprises one of the so-called planetary type wherein the drum 23 is journaled on a shaft 2 l which is permanently geared to the driving shaft 25 of w an electric meter 26 by means of a sprocket chain 27. whereby said shaft moves continuously. Fixed to the shaft 24 is a pinion. which meshes with one or more pinions rotatably mounted on studs or pins on a spider 28 that is loosely journaled on the shaft 24; and these pinions in turn mesh with an internal gear ring formed in the drum 23 which is rotatably mounted on the shaft 24. The periphery of this spider 28 is encircled by a contracting friction band 29 that is arranged to constitute a band brake of the kind ordinarily used with hoisting mechanisms, the friction band being tightened by means of an eccentric keyed to a rock-rod 30 which is provided with an operating lever 31. By this arrangement, the manipulation of the brake "ever 3.1 causes the friction band 29 to clutch and hold the spider 28 against rotation; and the effect of this action is to force the spider pinions to rotate on their own axes and thereby transfer power to the winding drum 23. When the brake is released, the internal gear ring is free to rotate with the spider so that no power is transmitted to the hoisting drum which consequently remains idle. The parts are so arranged that when power is transmitted from the motor to the Winding drum, the rope will be wound up and the free end of the boom will be raised. When the power of the motor is released, the weight of the boom pulls it down, the winding drum being permitted to turn by reason of its planetary gearing mentioned.

The boom forms a track-way for a shovel or scoop 32 that is arranged to move backwardly and forwardly thereon. This shovel or scoop is of the digger type and com-. prises a body portion of heavy metal. The bottom 33 of this scoop is pivotally mounted in the sides thereof near the front end; and the rear end of the bottom 33 is adapted to cooperate with a latch mounted on the back or rear end of the body portion. This latch preferably comprises a lever 3e with a hook or engaging portion 35 at the lower end thereof and has its upper end connected by means of a. tension spring 36 to a portion of its mounting frame, whereby the latch or locking lever is held normally in locking position. The lower end of the latch is provided with a rearwardly extending arm 37 which serves torelease the latch and dump the bottom of the shovel when said arm is raised or when, in the down-' wardly movement of the mast, said arm strikes an. obstruction such, for instance, as the side of the mine car.

The frontend ofthe scoop is provided with digger teeth. The middle or intermediate teeth 38 (see Fig. 9) are provided with elongated slots 39 whereby they are adapted to fit over the heavy sheet metal of the bottom' 33, to which they are secured preferably by rivets. At each of the front corners. the body portion ofthe scoop is provided with digger teeth 40 (see Fig. 8) which also are. slotted as at ll to straddle the front edge portion of the sheet metal bottom to which they are riveted or'otherwise secured. The outer sides of these end teeth 10 have upstanding flanges 42 which are pivota-lly secured to the adjacent side walls of the scoop by means of stud bolts 43, and thus constitute hinge members for pivotally securing the forward end of the bottom of the scoop to the side walls thereof.

The body of the scoop has rigidly secured thereto spaced vertical side frames d3 that extend rearwardly from the corners thereof and project upwardly above the boom. These side frames, which are arranged on opposite sides of the boom, are connected by .cross braces 44 and are provided with alined ,to' the forward end of the boom is a pull rope 47 which extends rearwardly and passes around a sheave 48 provided therefor on the rear wall of the scoop and thence forwardly around a sheave 49 on the front'portion of the boom. The pull rope 47 thence extends rearwardlyand passes around a sheave 50 journaled on the mast 9 and thence upwardly over a sheave 51 journaled in the stiff leg or mast supporting, frame 5 and thence extends rearwardly and is connected to a winding drum 52 operatively connected to the electric motor 26. This winding drum 52, which is similar to the hoisting drum 23, is rotatably mounted on the shaft 24 on which the hoisting drum 23 is ournaled, the

I winding drum being aranged along side of manner similar to the hoisting drum 23.

the hoisting drum and being driven from the shaft 24 by means of planetary gearing in1 a T 1e spider 53 of the winding drum 52 is similar to thespid er 28 of the hoisting drum and is .encircled by a contracting friction band 54 that is tightened to lock the spider when it is desired to rotate the winding drum by means of an eccentric keyed to a rock shaft 55 which is provided with an operating lever 56. The rock-rod 55 is located alongside of the rock-rod 30 and is disposed parallel therewith. I

As stated above, heavy springs 4 are interposed between' the body l-of the machine and the axles 2 that support it. When the machine is in operation, the pull on the hoisting rope 17 reacts through the body of the machine to press the springs down and thus lower the body of the machine. This tendency is utilized in the present machin to tilt the mast 9 and thereby bring the force of gravity into operation as an aid in swinging the shovel 32 to its position of discharge. F or this purpose, the body portion of the machine is provided with screw jacks 57 \on its opposite sides,.preferably close" to the front springs thereof. These jacks are detachably or pivotally mounted so as to be swung up out of the way when it is desired to move the machine from place to place; and they are mounted independently of each other. Preferably each jack is pivotally mounted and of such length that its lower or free end may be forced against the track tie or floor of the mine. When the jack is in this position, it keeps the adjacent portion of the body from going down during the operation of the machine; and if, as the in vention'contemplates, the jack on the other side is in position to permit, the other side will go down proportionately to the stress arising from the pull of the hoisting rope as above described. The body of the machine is thus tilted transversely and the mast mounted thereon is likewise tilted away from the side that is supported by the jack; and as, in practice, this tilting is toward the point of discharge, the weight of the load aids in moving the boom to the point of discharge. By giving the mast an initial or normal inclination away from the discharge side, gravity can be made to aid the return of the mast to receive its new charge. The mast is rotated to return the boom to its normal position over the track by means of a rope 58avl1ich has, one end secured to a sheave 59 rigidlly secured to the mast 9. This .rope passes under a sheave 60 journaled on a rock-rod 61, which is mounted in bearings on the framel, and thence is connected to a winding drum 62 provided therefor on the body of the machine. This winding drum is rotatably mounted on a shaft 63 which is driven from the shaft 24 by .means of a sprocket chain 64. The drum 62 is operatively connected to the continuously rotating shaft 63 by means of planetary gearing similar to the planetary gearing in the drum 23. The spider65 of the drum 62 is provided with a brake band 66, which is similar to thebrake bands 29 and 54 of the respective drums 23 and 52, and is tightened by means ofan eccentric keyed to the rock-rod 61. This rock-rod is actuated by 'means of'a' vertically disposed foot lever 67 whose upper end is connected to a rock-arm 68 attached to one end of the rod 61. It is noted that, if it is desired, two of the drums 62 may be employed, thus enabling the boom to be mechanically swung in both horizontal directions. v A

The operation of our device is as follows:

The machine is self-propelled or other- .wise moved on the mine track at a point close to the loose material to be loaded, and is thenbraced or otherwise secured to prevent it moving backwardly during operation. The track for the mine car extends alongsideof the machine; and the jack '57 on the opposite side of the machine is swung down and screwed out to bear against the cross tie or against the floor of the mine. The operator then manipulates the control lever 31 to lower the boom, the shovel being at this time at thev rear portion of the boom.

The control lever 56 is then manipulated to ulated to raise the boom, so that the movement of the shovel resulting from its movement endwise of theboom and the raising of the boom follows the slope of the loose material and thus skims its charge from the side of the pile. This operation of filling the shovel transmits considerable downward force to the bodyof the machine; and as the downward movement of the body is permitted by the springs on one side and is resisted by the screw jack on the other side, the body is tilted transversely of the track. This tilting of the body causes the mast thereon also to tilt away from said jack in the direction of the mine car. In consequence of this tilting, the weight of the boom and of the load thereon tends'to swing said boom towards the lower side of the body of the machine, that is, towards the point of discharge into the mine car. The boom is swung sidewise until the shovel is above the mine car, whereupon its bottom is unlatched and its charge emptied directly into the mine car. In practice, the unlatching of the bottom. of the shovel is affected by the operator, who

-manipulates the control lever to lower the boom until the arm projecting from the latch strikes against the side of the car and automatically-disengages said latch. Obviously, however, the latch may be tripped by other suitable devices or manually. The dumping of the charge from the shovel releases the pressure on the body springs and restores the mast to a vertical position and the attendant shuts the bottom and returns the mast to its working position, the operator meanwhile manipulating the control mechanism to retract the shovel endwiseof the boom and to lower the boom at the edge of the pile. Thisswinging movement is-preferably affected by the rope 58 attached to the winding-drum 62 which is under the control of the operator; but as gravity tends to swing the boom automatically, only a comparatively small force is required to swing it at the required speed for economic use and it may. conveniently be swung manually by an attendant and the winding outfit dispensed with. The operation of filling the shovel transmits considerable downward force to the front end portion of the body of the machine and tends to tilt said portion and cause the rear end thereof to raise off its supporting springs without disturbing the rear trucks or lifting said trucks off the rails as would be the case if the body portion were rigidly connected to the rear axle. Obviously our machine admits of considerable modification without departing from our invention. For instance, instead'of having the screw jacks pivotally mounted on the body, they may be entirely separable therefrom or they may be replaced with any suitable device that will serve to prop up one side of the body of the machine or will otherwise prevent the yielding of the body spring. Again, as the provision for tilting the body is primarily intended to tilt the mast, it is practicable to dispense with the tilting of the body and to provide otherwise for the tilting of the mast.

Obviously also the boom may be swung sidewise in both directions and upwardly and downwardly by winding mechanism; but it is an advantage to dispense with as much of such appliances as practicable, not only to effect a saving in the first cost and maintenance of the machine but to simplify the work of the operator, and by making the machine more easily controllable and adaptable to working conditions to secure most favorable and economical results.

WVhat we claim is:

1. A loading machine comprising a mast, a boom pivotally mounted on the-lower portion of said mast to swing vertically and side-' wise, means for moving said boom comprising a rope operatively connected to the free end portion of the boom and supported from the top portion of the mast and means whereby the loading of the boom will bring about the lateral tilting of the mast to facilitate the swinging of the boom towards the point of discharge.

2. A loading machine comprising a rotatable mast, a boom pivotallysecured to said mast to swing vertically, means for turning said mast, means for moving said boom comprising a rope operatively connected to the free end portion of the boom and supported from the top portion of the mast and means whereby the loading of the boom will bring about the lateral tilting of the mast to facilitate the swinging of the boom towards the point of discharge.

3. A loading machine comprising a mast, a boom pivotally mounted on the lower portion of said mast to swing vertically and sidewise, means for moving said boom comprising a rope operatively-connected to the free end portion of the boom and supported from the top portion of the mast and means for bringing about the tilting of the mast laterally when the boom is loaded, a shovel movable endwise of said boom and means for connecting and controlling said shovel.

4. A side delivery loading machine comprising a rotatable mast, a boom pivotally mounted on the lower portion of said mast to swing vertically and sidewise, means for turning said mast, means for moving said boom comprising a rope operatively connected to the free end portion of the boom and supported from the top portion of the mast, a shovel movable endwise of said boom and means for connecting and controlling said shovel and means whereby the loading of the boom will bring about the lateral tilting of the mast to facilitate the swinging of the boom sidewise.

5. A loading machine comprising wheeled axles, a body, springs interposed between the sides of the body and said axles, means for preventing the compression of the springs on one side, a mast on said body having a swinging boom, and a hoisting mechanism on said body comprising a hoisting rope supported from the top portion of said mast and operatively connected to the free end portion ofsaid boom, whereby the loading of the boom will tilt the mast laterally and tend to swing the boom.

"6. A loading machine comprising wheeled axles, a body, springs interposed between the sides of the body and said axles, means for preventing the compression of the springs on one side while those on the-other side are free to yield to the load on the boom,-a mast pivotally mounted on said body and having a swinging boom, and a hoisting mechanism on said body comprising a hoisting rope supported from the top portion of said mast and operatively connected to the free end portion of said boom.

' 7 A loading machine comprising wheeled axles, a body, a mast on said body having a swinging boom, springs, interposed between the sides'of the body and said axles, means for preventing the compression of the springs'on one side andthereby causing said body to tilt laterally when the boom is loaded, and a hoisting mechanism on said body comprising a hoisting rope supported from the top portion of said mast and operatlvely connected to the free end portion of said boom, a shovel movable endwise of said boom and means for connecting and controlling said shovel.

8. A loading machine comprising wheelec axles, a body, springs interposed between the sides'of the body and said axles, means for preventing the compression of the springs on one side while those on the other side are free to yield under the load on the boom, a mast pivotally mounted on said body and having a swinging boom, means for turning said mast, and a hoisting mechanism on said body comprising a hoisting rope supported from the top portion of said mast and operatively connected to the free end portion of said boom, a shovel movable endwise of said boom and means for connecting and controlling said shovel.

9. A loading machine comprising wheeled axles, a body portion, springs interposed between said axles and body portion, a jack at one side of the machine for preventing compression of the springs on said side while the springs on the other side are left responsive to the load on the boom hereinafter axles,

mentioned, a mast on said body and a swinging boom for said mast, winding mechanism on said body comprising a rope operatively connected to the outer end of said boom and supported from the top of the mast, whereby the loading of the boom brings about a tilting of the mast toward the point of discharge.

10. A loading machine comprising wheeled axles, a body portion, springs interposed between said axles and body portion, a jack at one side of the machine for preventing compression of the springs on said side while the springs on the other side are left responsive to the load on'the boom hereinafter mentioned, a mast rotatably mounted on said body and a swinging boom for said mast, mechanism for turning said mast comprising a rope operatively connected to said mast, winding mechanism on said body comprising a rope operatively connected to the outer end of said boom and supported from the top of the mast, whereby the loading of the boom brings about a tilting of the mast toward the point of discharge.

11. A loading machine comprising wheeled a body portion, springs interpos .l-between said axles and body portion, v a ack at one side of the machine for preventing compression of the springs on said side while the springs on the other side are left responsive to the load on the boom hereinafter mentioned, a mast on said body and a swinging boom for said mast, winding mechanism on said body comprising arope operatively connected to the outer end of said boom and supported from the top of the mast, a shovel movable endwise of said boom and means for supporting arms and rollers therein, some of said rollers being disposed transversely of said boom and extending the full width thereof and arranged to bear against the upper and lower sides thereof respectively.

Signed at Desloge, Missouri, this 8th day of March, 1920.

JAMES P. MOSIER. ERNIST R. CAMPBELL; 

